Our hero of the story, Siddharth (name changed) is a 25-year-old driven, perfectionist, pursuing his master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. He is originally from Hyderabad and is currently studying at IIT Madras. Siddharth is a sports enthusiast with a passion for cricket and table tennis.
The onset of online classes required us to adapt to a completely unfamiliar mode of learning for students. Siddharth had no choice but to study his course online until the lockdown resumed. During this time, the workload for students was never-ending.
The pressures of academics can be so overwhelming that we might reach a point of doubting ourselves about everything we do. Siddharth reached this stage where he felt overburdened and almost burnt out with the amount of work that piled up, especially during the time of his online classes.
“Initially, I didn’t experience any anxiety. However, during my online classes, I felt my stress levels reach a peak as there was a never-ending amount of work to do”.
Along with taking on this academic stress, Siddharth felt lost as he had to move to a completely different city all on his own. The combination of homesickness and academic pressures resulted in a series of anxiety-related issues which popped up from time to time.
Knowing that he needed to get help, Siddharth found YourDOST through his college and decided to give therapy a shot. He began to speak with Ms. Meenu, his counselor, on the platform and found that she was everything that he was looking for in a counselor.
“We had got along right from the very beginning. Since we shared similar interests, I found her so relatable and I didn’t have any problems with opening up to her.”
Siddharth articulates the patience and constant encouragement that his counselor so generously gave to him. This helped him understand himself better and find healthy ways to cope with his anxiety.
“Besides anxiety, I had issues with my daily eating and sleeping. She helped me with experimenting with different solutions and finding a method that works for me.”
In fact, Siddharth felt so much better once he completed a few sessions with Ms. Meenu that he decided it was time for him to take a break from counseling. For a while, he felt at ease but then he found that there were still a few issues that he wanted to work through.
Growth is a process that has no end point in our lives. Knowing that there will always be room for improvement, Siddharth decided to reunite with therapy.
This time, Siddharth approached Ms. Padmaja Sharma, a counselor who he found very genuine and relatable. She constantly motivated him to experiment with different solutions and see which ones worked best for him.
Ms. Padmaja played a major role in helping him navigate through issues that were not major but still bothered him in some instances.
“Ms. Padmaja was very understanding and easy to relate to. She helped me on my journey of recovery and I am very grateful for her constant encouragement.”
Siddharth reached a phase where he no longer felt a sense of urgency to continue counseling but he continued for the sole purpose of working on himself. He expresses his gratitude to his counselors for helping him bring to awareness the roots of his issues and helping him find healthy coping mechanisms which never failed to be handy.
“Sometimes when I felt anxious, I would try to calm myself down by slowly counting down backward from 10. This helped me reduce any feelings of panic and tension I had at that moment”.
Besides this, Siddharth says that his favorite thing about therapy was the safe space that his counselors had created for him. He felt very comfortable expressing his feelings to them and always found them to be helpful.
“Before I started therapy, I felt as if I had reached a stagnant phase in my life. I’m extremely grateful to my counselors for helping me realize all the joys I had in my life and for constantly supporting me to grow more”.
Siddharth also expresses his gratitude to the organization-
“I have not seen another organization like this where counselors are so flexible with the ultimate goal of helping their clients”.
As life goes on, we can either choose if we want to focus on the problem or the solution. Siddharth has made a promise to himself to focus on the solutions that work for him and to always try to look at the bright side of life.
It is this mindset that has made him grow into the resilient person he is today. He mentions that he is feeling great today and rates himself with a 4 out of 5 in terms of feeling better.
Siddharth’s Warrior Tips:
1.”Never stop trying. Be open to experimenting with different solutions and eventually, you will find something that works for you.”
2.“Taking the step to talk to someone about your feelings is one of the bravest things you can do.”
